Simultaneous UV and electrochemical determination of the herbicide asulam in tap water samples by micellar electrokinetic capillary chromatography

A simple end-column electrochemical detector was designed and attached to an available commercial capillary electrophoresis instrument with UV detection to detect different kind of herbicides and to determinate methyl-4-aminophenyl-sulfonylcarbamate (asulam) in water samples. The designed cell is very easy to assemble and disassemble in a short period of time; the working electrode positioning is also quickly achieved without micropositioners. The alignment between working electrode and capillary outlet was very reproducible for the all checked electrodes; the R.S.D. obtained was lower than 6.0% for 100 mum gap distance. In this mode, the non-electroactive and electroactive compounds could be detected by UV and electrochemical detection, respectively at the same time. The electrochemical determination of asulam using micellar electrokinetic capillary chromatography (MEKC) is the first time that is reported. In both detection systems, a linear range was obtained for asulam concentrations lower than 25.0 mg l(-1), in boric acid 0.020 mol l(-1) at pH 8.20 and containing 0.025 mol l(-1) of sodium dodecyl sulfate, to obtain selectivity additional separation by the micellar distribution process. Under these conditions, an experimental detection limit of 0.4 mg l(-1) was achieved. A new experimental scheme is also described for asulam determination in tap waters with a previous preconcentration step. Using both, UV and electrochemical detection, with a previous extraction procedure, the detection limits of asulam in tap water samples were of 1.0 and 0.8 mug l(-1), respectively. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.